There was a time several years ago where I would use “word-love” the same way some people use other phrases to say “hello” “good-bye” and “you look fantastic today!” and “so glad to see you.” and “be safe!”
“Word-love!” said everything.
I don’t know when or how it slid away.
The images in this blog post were when word-love morphed into mixed media and poetry performances and an art hop night in downtown Bakersfield. I wrote personalized poetry on refrigerator magnets for people and offered passers-by the chance to make art instead of just look at art others had made.
Words – love – and art – in – braided wonderland… and as I said before, I wasn’t conscious of word-love’s slow sliding somewhere beneath my feet between then and my near-death and now, reconciliation is on the verge. It’s happening. So I declare.
My personal word theme of today (I came upon it during my morning meditation) is invitation. A-ha.
Feeling the combination of invitation with word-love’s quiet exit may be asking me to create a lasting and meaningful reunion. What do you think?
The other piece that popped into my mind was the first line of a poem I wrote when my son was a baby. It kind of faked people out:
“Falling in love with you was not what I expected.”
I use words out of love, admiration, optimism, hope, healing, connection…understanding.
I honor myself and I honor you with my words.
I offer my gifts to the world with my words, in word-love, whether I am writing an essay, a poem, a script, a story, a sales letter, a social media or blog post, my writing practice. It all blends, in an infinite loop de loop of love. Word-love.
Now it is time to return it to you, an invitation to pass along or hold for a while as it feels refreshing, sacred, holy. Separately and together. Lasting. Meaningful. Reconciliation. Word-love.
Have you ever considered how you might define word-love?
Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she has recently finished her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.
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Roy A Ackerman, PhD EA says
To me, word-love is how I approach the written word. I enjoy- and often revel- in thecominbation of sounds and images they provide.
Florence Callender says
Thank you for sharing your heartfelt thoughts and for reminding us of the power of words to create love, connection, and understanding.
Elisa Heisman says
To me, it’s learning the nuances of what certain words mean and then choosing the right ones for what I want to convey. For example, an acronym is an abbreviation that you read as a word like NASA and AIDS. Initialisms are for abbreviations that you spell out when you read them like FBI and UFO. I am such a word nerd, but that’s word-love to me.
Kebba Buckley Button says
Julie, what a lush offering you’ve extended today. I’ve never heard of word-love before, but: words are crucial to connecting us and communicating our experience. Like both Elisa and Flo said.